Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi - September 3, 2000 - Continued Reactions to the Interview of Seyed Mohammad Khatami

Reactions to Seyed Mohammad Khatami's recent interview continue, with Fereydoun Vardinejad having previously voiced similar concerns during a meeting. This follows a message from Ayatollah Khamenei to the Assembly before Khatami's statements regarding the management of the chain murders case, which has now been denied by Sheikh Mohammad Niyaazi, the then head of the Judiciary Organization of the Armed Forces.

A visit to the Political and International Studies Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was made, which has now become the center for training and research. I reviewed a collection of old maps collected from both domestic and foreign sources, finding several interesting copies among them. We then visited the public library, which reportedly houses over 200,000 books. The center also features an information hub containing thousands of videos purchased from an American institution, which have been organized historically with film, images, and sound—an important endeavor. They also have internet access. I listened to explanations from the officials present, including Mr. Sadegh Khrazi, Deputy for Education and Research, Mohammad Masjed-Jamei, Director General of Cultural Affairs, Noorollah Moradi, Head of the Specialized Library, and Ali Mojani, Director General of Documents and Diplomatic History. They mentioned that there are over 50 million documents stored in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, many of which are worthy of publication. I wrote a few sentences in the guestbook for record-keeping.

I visited Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani at the home of Mr. Abbas Maleki. He recently had cataract surgery and had a lens implanted in his right eye.

I spent the evening reading at home. Right-wing newspapers have expressed numerous objections and criticisms regarding the recent interview with President Seyed Mohammad Khatami, initially citing the absence of journalists and subsequently claiming the statements were weak, unfounded, overly general, and at times contradictory or slogan-like. The criticisms of the military court ruling concerning the chain murders are severe. Mr. Khatami stated that he only intervened in the first week, while Mr. Mohammad Niyaazi claims there has been ongoing intervention from the start to this day.

Today in Khorramabad, Lorestan, Hezbollah members protested against the Office for Consolidation of Unity, which is holding a seminar at Lorestan University. They did not allow Mr. Abdulkarim Soroush and Mr. Mohsen Kadivar, who arrived as speakers, to enter the city, and the provincial security council advised them to return to Tehran.

President Vladimir Putin has taken political responsibility for the sinking of the Kursk submarine, refusing to accept the resignations of military commanders, and stated he feels guilt and shame. In Turkey, a group of Iranian Pasdaran has been sued in court for misconduct in collaboration with Hezbollah, implicating the leadership, myself, and Ali Fallahian, the former Minister of Intelligence, which could further strain relations.